Maine May Fine NOM Up to $50,000

AUGUSTA, Maine _ A national anti-gay marriage group that helped defeat a same-sex marriage law in 2009 in Maine could face more than $50,000 in fines for violating campaign finance laws.

The Maine Ethics Commission said Monday its investigators have found that National Organization for Marriage should be fined for failing to register as a ballot question committee and to file campaign finance reports.

NOM was the primary donor when it gave nearly $2 million to Stand for Marriage Maine, a political action committee, to help defeat the Maine law in a 2009 referendum. Gay marriage became legal in the state after a second referendum in 2012.

State law requires groups to register as ballot question committees if they raise or spend more than $5,000 to influence a state ballot question.